More tests planned in jail death probe

September 18, 2001

COOK COUNTY — Officials Monday said additional tests would be performed to determine why a 36-year-old South Side woman died in a holding cell while awaiting admission to Cook County Jail on a drug charge.

An autopsy was performed Monday but a determination about the cause of her death is pending a review of toxicology tests, said a spokesman for the Cook County medical examiner's office.

Alicia Pierce, of the 4400 block of South Cicero Avenue, was in a holding cell about 2 p.m. Sunday when she collapsed, said Bill Cunningham, a spokesman for the Cook County sheriff's office.

After the jail's medical staff attempted to revive her, Pierce was transported to Mt. Sinai Hospital, where she was pronounced dead, Cunningham said. Pierce was brought in earlier Sunday for possession of a controlled substance, he said.